along with the Best And Worst Films of the year list, our other annual tradition here at Filmed But Not Forgotten is the handing out of the FBNF Awards. so, lets get to it....

FBNF AWARDS 2011

BEST FILM: A Separation

BEST PERFORMANCE (male): Woody Harrelson (Rampart)

i know most people haven't even heard of this film, let alone seen it. and i wasn't expecting woody to get any oscar recognition. but, i can at least do my part in recognizing his great performance... he did get an independent spirit nomination.

BEST PERFORMANCE (female): Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)

i know, it's the obvious answer. but sometimes that's the right one, as is the case here. she really was incredible in the role!

BEST GROUP PERFORMANCE: A Separation

i was not familiar with the male and female actors in the film. but wow! the entire cast really is superb! just another reason A Separation is the best film of the year.

LEAST AMOUNT OF STORY: Battle L.A.

the movie starts with the aliens already attacking and the film is pretty much just about a group of soldiers fighting their way through L.A. very little back story. not much info about the alieans. just a Battle L.A. - and you want to know the crazy part. i didn't hate it.

BEST USE OF A MIRROR: Carnage

pretty much the entire film takes place in an apartment and the main room has a very prominent mirror in it. while this might scare some film makers, director, roman polanski uses it. and not just one or two shots either. polanski goes to the mirror many times.

BEST SCORE: Contagion

there were a bunch of really good scores this year, but for me, watching Contagion and how the score added such great dramatic value to the film, i really liked it... yes, i understand that there is a school of thought that says that if a score is really good than it shouldn't be noticed. well, that is true sometimes. but in this case it really worked with the film that soderbergh was creating.

BEST FILM WITH AN ANGRY BIRDS CONNECTION/REFERENCE: Horrible Bosses

there were two films up for this award. the first was Rio - which is so connected to angry birds that the latest angry birds game - released in conjunction with the film - was angry birds rio. as for Horrible Bosses, there is a scene in which charlie day's character is waiting in car and playing angry birds... and to put it simply, Horrible Bosses was funny and Rio was not good!

the awrds are ...

WORST TRAILER (AS COMPARED TO MOVIE): Larry Crowne

this award might seem a little confusing. what do i mean by 'worst trailer (as compared to the movie)'? what i mean is that the trailer - which i saw many, many, many times leading up to the films release, i could have sworn that tom hank's character, larry crowne, was a little mentally slow. now, when i finally watched the film, that wasn't the case at all.... am i the only one who thought that by watching the trailer?

OSCAR IS WAY TOO EXCITED ABOUT: The Help

i'm not saying it was a bad film. But, lets get real here folks! a best picture and three actress nominations (one lead and two supporting). it wasn't that good.

when you got films like The Ides Of March, Shame, Drive, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo all missing out on a 'best picture' spot and The Help getting one - something just isn't right there.

And as for the actress noms: where is carey mulligan's nomination (Drive, but even more so, Shame)? or jessica chastain's (The Tree Of Life)? or how about either, or both, leila hatami and sareh bayat (A Separation). foreign film actors have been nominated before and both those women were up there on the same level as meryl streep this year with their performances.

WELL DONE OSCAR: nominations for Tree Of Life/terrence malick and Midnight In Paris/woody allen

so, in the above award i told oscar where they went so very wrong. but here is what they got right and what happily surprised me a little as well. Tree Of Life is such a different film there is always the chance that oscar just wont get it. so, i was happy to see that they did get it and that they gave it two top award nominations (picture & director).

as for Midnight In Paris. i wasn't sure oscar would remember this one when it came time to hand out the nominations. and i thought that if they did they would give it a screenplay nod only. so when i saw it come up in both the best picture and directors sections i was very happy!

BEST BIKINI: Just Go With It

if you have seen the movie or at least the trailer, than you know exactly what i am talking about

BEST COMEDY: The Trip

it was a pretty week year for comedies. but The Trip was one of the few good ones - and the best of those!

BEST SEQUEL: Mission Impossible 4

it looked like Harry Potter 7 Part 2 was gonna take this award. That was, until i watched MI4.

WORST MOVIE WITH A NUMBER IN THE TITLE: I Am Number 4

BEST ROMANTIC DRAMA: Like Crazy

there was junk like One Day that was predictable and uninteresting and manipulative. and then there was Like Crazy that was improvisational, and genuine and a good film.

BEST TITLE: Cowboys And Aliens

i didn't see the movie and everyone i know thought the title was ridiculous, but i like that about it!

BEST COMIC BOOK/SUPERHERO MOVIE: X-Men: First Class

this award came down to 'First Class' and Thor. and i felt that X-Men was the one i enjoyed a bit more.

BEST "friends with benefits" MOVIE: No Strings Attached

in 1997 we had two volcano movies (Dante's Peak & Volcano). in 1998 we got two "meteor is going to hit the earth movies (Armageddon & Deep Impact) and two WWII movies (Saving Private Ryan & The Thin Red Line).

in 2011 we got two "friends with benefits" movies (No Strings Attached & Friends With Benefits). although, neither one was great, i gotta say that i preferred No Strings Attached.

BEST KICK-ASS CHICK MOVIE: Hannah

the 'solo dude kicking ass' genre is one we have seen for years and years, but the 'solo chick kicking ass' genre seems to have come into its own more recently. just a few weeks ago we got the release of Haywire and last year we had Colombiana and Hannah throw their hats into the ring.

and with those two films up for the award, it was very easy one to pick a winner. Colombiana kicked ass, but the film was not good. as for Hannah, this one made my honorable mention list for the year, so you do the math.

BEST ANIMATED MOVIE: Rango

it wasn't a great year for animation, but Rango was great.

BEST MOVIE WITH AN ACTOR FROM "The Office": HESHER

and the nominees were: Something Barrowed (john krasinski 'jim'), A Little Help (jenna fisher 'pam'), Terri (creed bratton 'creed'), Hesher (rainn wilson 'dwight') ... besides the mediocrity that was Something Barrowed, i didn't dislike any of the three other films, and Terri is one i would recommend. but Hesher made the honorable mentions list and at one point had a spot on the best of the year list, so it had to win this award.

WORST COMIC BOOK/SUPERHERO MOVIE: The Green Lantern

The Green Hornet was average, Captain America wasn't great, but The Green Lantern wasn't just a bad comic book movie - it was one of the worst films of the year!

FBNF AWARDS 2010

BEST FILM: Greenberg

BEST ACTRESS: Annette Bening

bening is a beautiful and talented actress that seems to have embraced getting older. she is so comfortable in her skin and with who she is and that radiates through her performances. and she had a great year: she was great in The Kids Are Alright, but she was also wonderful in the little seen film Mother And Child (with naomi watts and samuel l. jackson).

BEST 3D: Toy Story 3 & Piranha 3D

- in a year where it seemed like every second movie was being released in 3D, most of them were doing it post production and it either looked bad or wasn't worth the effort. Toy Story 3 and Piranha 3D are two films that did it right. Toy Story 3 was a completely great and full 3D experience and Piranha 3D used the good 3D to enhance the campy, b-movie (have you ever seen two naked girls swimming under a boat and a big piranha burp up a bitten off penis in 3D. well, thanks to this film, i can say i have).

WORST CHEMISTRY: jennifer lopez & Alex O'Loughlin in The Back-Up Plan

- the crappy script didn't help, but these two bring nothing to the table and you end up caring about them and the movie as little as they seem to care about each other.

WORST IMPROVISING: the cast of Grown-Ups

- i like these guys, but in this movie there are a bunch of scenes that feel like the script just said "guys are sitting around talking" and so that is what they do. the problem is that improvising is hard and it takes real acting chops to do it well so that it feels genuine. these guys are all funny guys, but in this film the improving is quite bad and often the least funny moments.

BEST CAST PERFORMANCES: Winters Bones

- lead by a really great performance by young jennifer lawrence, the entire cast of this film is excellent. the film takes you into a world and these actors completely inhabit the characters in it.

BEST MONTAGE: The Other Guys - a night of drinking at the bar

- as the music plays a camera moves through the bar and we see different freeze frame images of will ferrell and mark whalberg over the course of a night of drinking. from them walking in, to ferrell standing on the pool table taking a leak. it's original in its execution and it's funny.

WORST PERFORMANCES BY A PARENT AND CHILD: miley and billy ray cyrus

miley cyrus was trying hard in The Last Song, but that's part of the problem - you see her trying to hard. as for her dad billy ray in The Spy Next Door: it is just a little supporting role, but when you make jackie chan look like a great thespian you know you got a problem.

BEST MOVIE TITLE: Hot Tub Time Machine

even before i saw the film and new it was the best comedy of the year i loved the title

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: Despicable Me - pharrell

no disrespect to the great randy newman and the other best song oscar nominees. but the fact that pharrell's Despicable Me title track didn't even get a nomination is yet another oscar blunder (especially, given that there are only four nominees, which means they have room for another one). this is however, not oscar's biggest mistake this year. that would be....

BIGGEST OSCAR GYP: nothing for Greenberg

not even a screenplay nod. i mean come on! i would have loved to have seen an acting nomination for one, if not both, leads (ben stiller and greta gerwig), but i knew that was pretty unlikely given that the film wasn't very big and the roles not as obvious and flashy as some of the nominees. but, with this new 10 film nominees thing they got going on i was hoping it might sneak in there.

but regardless of all that, i figured a screenplay nomination was an actual possibility. i know that a lot of people didn't get the brilliance of the film and the screenplay, but that still doesn't make it right to not even get one nomination!

WELL DONE OSCAR: Winters Bones actors & Exit Through The Gift Shop

as you know from an earlier award, i think the entire cast of Winter's Bones was excellent - so, to see jennifer lawrence get a best actress nomination and john hawkes pull one in for supporting actor was a very nice surprise.

if you listened to, or read, my best and worst of the year list, you know that i thought this was a really strong year for documentaries and i had four in the top 10. now, three of them didn't get nominations (the biggest surprise/gyp was nothing for the joan rivers doc), but it was really good to se Exit Through The Gift Shop among the five nominees.

BEST FLOP: Green Zone (Budget: $100 million/Gross: $35,053,660)

like most years, there were a lot of big name flops at the box office this year (Prince Of Persia, The Last Airbender, Edge Of Darkness, Knight & Day, Legend Of The Guardians...). films that didn't make back what they cost to produce. but while many of them deserved the what they got, some did not. and the best of those was Green Zone.

like the 2008 fbnf award winner in the category, Body Of Lies, Green Zone is a smart action thriller that just couldn't find its audience and couldn't really be packaged in a simple trailer. however, it has a strong script, direction and performances that lift it above the typical genre fare.

the final scene of the film Le Concert is a powerful moment where answers are revealed during a concert performance. the scene inter-cuts the performance with the back story and it is really well done. my only problem with it is that the director, radu mihaileanu, throws in a couple dumb comic gags with other characters in the orchestra, that feel totally out of place.

BEST FILM ABOUT A GROUP OF EX-GOVERNMENT OPERATIVES: Red

with The Losers, The A-Team and Red you had three films released in 2010 that dealt with a group of almost indestructible ex-government operatives now working for themselves to fight against the system they once worked for. while i actually enjoyed all three films. they were all fun and didn't take themselves to seriously... Red was definitely the best of the bunch.

FUNNIEST PERFORMANCE IN AN UNFUNNY MOVIE: Dax Shepard in When In Rome

the only things keeping When In Rome from being a completely average romantic comedy (which it kind of is anyway) are the three supporting actors: dax shapard, will arnett and danny devito. they are the only ones bringing any kind of funny and shepard is great as the narcissistic model.

WELCOME BACK: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1

the first two movies in the series, just like the first two books, were good, but they were also most about setting up the franchise and the mythology. then, starting with the third book and movie, things started to really get good and a little darker and movies 3, 4 and 5 were all great films. then came 6 - maybe the best book in the series but a real disappointment movie wise. however, with The Deathly Hallows part 1 they got back on track and made a really good movie!

BEST NON-ANIMATED KIDS MOVIE: Diary Of A Wimpy Kid

i've never read the books and honestly had no intentions or desire to see this film. but, in my quest to make 2010 my most prolific year of film viewing, i ended up watching Diary Of A Wimpy Kid. and it was really good.

BEST RUNNING COMEDIC GAG: The Other Guys - TLC References

this was a tough one. also in the running was the 'how will the bellboy lose his arm from Hot Tub Time Machine' and 'the Aladdin references in She's Out Of My League.' but micheal keaton's TLC references in The Other Guys was just too good not to win. it is funny and wonderfully absurd and the way will ferrell and mark whalberg react to them over the course of the movie is perfect and makes it all that much funnier.

BEST ROMANTIC COMEDY BEST FRIENDS: TIE: Going The Distance & She's Out Of My League

we all know that it is part of the romantic comedy genre to have the funny best friend(s) of the main characters. as always 2010 brought with it a plethora of rom-coms, but when it came down to the funny best friends, these two films stood above the crowd! in She's Out Of My League Jay Baruchel's three best friends are great and in Going The Distance jason sedeikis and charlie day steal the show.

FBNF AWARDS 2009

BEST FILM: Inglourious Bastards

WELCOME BACK: robin williams

- last year this award went to woody allen who after an up and down decade brought us the excellent and back-to-form Vicky Christina Barcelona. this year we have robin williams whose last 4 comedies were: Night At The Museum I & II, Licence To Wed and Old Dogs. then this year he stars in a little seen, dark comedy World's Greatest Dad, that shows us he can still step away from the middle of the road and take a chance - which he really has only done in non-comedic roles, if at all, lately.

BEST REBOOT: Star Trek

- ahhh the reboot. the newest hollywood craze of taking film series' and just starting them again with no reference or need to honour the story lines from the previous films. they did it with james bond in Casino Royal, with batman in Batman Begins, with superman in Superman Returns and they are already doing it with the next spiderman film. 2009 didn't see a lot of rebooting, but we saw it done really well with Star Trek which was not just a good summer film, but one of the better films released all year.

BEST OPENING CREDITS: Watchmen

- the opening credits for Watchmen were some of the best i have seen in a long, long time. they were so engaging and visually pleasing and had me so psyched for the film - which, given that it made the 10 worst list, was pretty much all downhill from there.

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE: tom hardy (Bronson)

- you probably didn't see Bronson (#10 on my best of the year list), but you should, if for nothing else, for hardy's great performance.

BEST MONTAGE: Up

- the montage near the beginning of the film, that takes us through an entire relationship from the meeting as kids through their falling in love and marriage and life's happy moments and its trials and tribulations through the passing of ones soul mate and true love, is absolutely beautiful and funny and sad and touching and is pretty much worth the price of admission right there.

BEST #9 FILM: District 9

- in case you forgot about the other nominees in this category, also released in 2009 (there's another nine) were tim burton's 9 and Nine from director rob marshall.

BEST BIG HOLLYWOOD COMEDY: I Love You Man

- looking at the comedies that made my "best of the year" list, there are 3 small/independent films (500 Days Of Summer, Humpday and World's Greatest Dad) and one foreign one (In The Loop). but, just out of top 10 range you will find I Love You Man, which didn't get the kind of attention that The Hangover did, but to my mind was an overall better and more consistently funny film.

CRITICS LIKED IT WAY TOO MUCH: An Education

- this film made many a top ten list this year and got some very high ratings on rotten tomatoes and metacritic, but it shouldn't have. while carey mulligan is rightfully getting praised and nominated, the film itself is an okay movie that seems to be good for a while but then ends up letting you down with a standard, uninteresting, cliche ending.

THE AUDIENCE LIKED IT WAY TOO MUCH: Avatar

- i get it. the 3D is great and visually it is well worth seeing on the big, or better yet, biggest (imax) screen. but, for the film to make as much money as it has means that people are going back to see it again and again and again and again. and that is where i don't get it. the story is generic, the writing is mediocre and, besides the great visuals and a nice message about mankind and his need to be more connected and understanding of his planet and of nature in general, the film...........

THE MICHAEL CERA AWARD: michael cera

- it is only fitting that the first ever michael cera award goes to... michael cera. the award goes to the actor (male or female) who is type cast/plays very much the same character in all their film roles for that year. and mister cera wins that one hands down this year and the last few years even. but, in 2009 we saw him in Year One playing a caveman version of the shy/sweet/nervous/bumbling character he always plays. and in a small, and enjoyable, faux-documentary called Paper Heart he plays himself and is, well... himself.

VERY PLEASANT OSCAR SURPRISE: tie: District 9 & A Serious Man

- even with 10 nominations to hand out for best picture this year it was still a surprise to see District 9 and A Serious Man get nods. but, it was a very pleasant surprise i might add... District 9 was a hit, but not the kind of film that generally gets a nomination. A Serious Man was definitely not a hit (grossing just over $9 million) nor did it have a huge critics push/campaign behind it that i was aware of (although it did receive lots of critical praise). but, oscar did the right thing this year and gave both films place among their top 10. both films also got screenplay nominations that they deserve.

BEST WRITER: dave eggers

- there were some great screenplays produced in 2009 and if the award was going to just one screenplay then the winner would be different. but, in this case, dave eggers was involved in writing the scripts for two films that came out last year and both of them were really good: Away We Go and Where The Wild Things Are. so, for being two-for-two in 2009 the award is his.

BEST IMPROVISATIONAL PERFORMANCE: tie: mark duplass & joshua leonard

- you might be asking yourself, how much improvisation was there in films last year anyway? well there was a bit. you had soderbergh The Girlfriend Experience which was at least semi-improvisational. there was the great hungarian film that ended up at number 7 on my "best of the year" list, I'm Not Your Friend. and then there was Humpday, which was number 3 on my list and had two great performances from mark duplass and joshua leonard who basically improved the entire film and did so brilliantly.

BEST FILM IN WHICH MIKE TYSON APPEARS: Tyson

- while The Hangover was funny as was tyson's bit in it, the documentary Tyson was the better film and one of the better films i saw all year (it made "honorable mention" on the best of list)

GLAD THE GENERAL PUBLIC KNOWS HIS NAME NOW: zack galifianakis

- you may not be able to pronounce it or spell it, but thanks to the huge success of The Hangover, zack galifianakis is kind of a household name now (or at least "that fat guy with the beard from The Hangover" is). i am a huge fan of stand-up comedy and have been a fan of zacks for a while (if you have a chance to catch his special that plays on the comedy network sometimes you should check it out. it is very funny stuff) and its nice to see him getting some attention.

FBNF AWARDS 2008

BEST FILM: Slumdog Millionaire

BEST END CREDIT DANCE(tie):- tom cruise (Tropic Thunder) - this was great. i thought his character was hysterical throughout the film and this just put a great topper on a really good time at the movies. cruise can be great in these supporting roles where he really just lets himself go (think Magnolia also)

- the cast of Slumdog Millionaire - i loved this film and the bollywood dancing at the end was so joyful and carried my smile from the end of the film through the closing credits.

WORST SEQUEL: Quantum Of Solace

it was a bad sequel, a bad james bond movie and just a bad film in general

BEST MOVIE SONG(tie):- bruce springsteen (The Wrestler) & jack white and alicia keyes (Quantum Of Solace) - both songs are good songs in their own right and worked really well in their respective films (pretty much one of the only good things about Quantum Of Solace)... oh ya, don't forget Rock Me Sexy Jesus from Hamlet 2

best male performance:- mickey rourke - his performance in The Wrestler is so true and heartbreaking and uplifting. from the hair to the hearing aide to the way he talks and carries himself differently in and outside the ring, rourke stands out from the crowd this year with that performance.

best sequel:- The Dark Knight - this one was easy. not only was it far and away the best sequel of the year, it was the best comic book movie since tim burton's Batman in 1989 and one of the best films of the year - sequel or not.

best film i saw all year:- Keane - released in 2004 this small lodge kerrigan film is one i am still thinking and talking about to anyone that will listen. read my full discussion of the film here.

welcome back:- woody allen - one of my favorite directors of all time allen could pretty much do know wrong for me until about 10 years ago. these last 10 years have been up and down, with more downs then ups and the ups not being that high. that was until Vicky Cristina Barcelona. this wonderful film is the best thing he has done in a long time and although one film isn't maybe enough to say 'he's back", i so enjoyed the movie that i'm going to say it anyway... "he's back!"

best actor:- ben kingsley - The Wackness and Elegy

best bad special effects:- Be Kind Rewind

film that most frustratingly didn't live up to its potential:- Righteous Kill - unlike last years winner of this award I Am Legend - which was actually a really good film for the first half of it, Righteous Kill wasn't very good from pretty early on. however, given that two of the greatest actors of all time - robert deniro and al pacino - were the stars, and were going to be in a film and on screen together for most of it, for the first time ever, the potential for greatness was there.

best performance by young actors:- all the kids in The Class (Entre Les Murs)

worst performances by young actors:- the young actors in Gran Tornio

best two acting greats in one movie:- merryl streep and phillip seymor hoffman in Doubt - dicaprio and winslet were good in Revolutionary road and this awards should have really gone to deniro and pacino (but, while they were fine in the awful Righteous Kill, they weren't great)... but streep and hoffman in doubt were excellent and the big climactic scene in which the two of them go head to head had me completely riveted.

most disappointingly historically inaccurate:- parts of Frost/Nixon - i really liked the film, and its fine that they took some dramatic license with certain things and emphasized others that might not have been so 'dramatic' at the time, but to literally change actual dialogue from the frost/nixon interviews is just wrong. i mean, we have the actual footage and transcripts from the interviews, so use them at least for the interview scenes... also, creating that huge, climactic phone call scene - that never happened - that turns the film around and leads to the big 'get' in the interview is also wrong,

biggest oscar gyp:- The Wrestler - yes it got an acting nod for both mickey rourke and marissa tomei (both completely deserving), but what about a best picture nomination? or if that's too much to ask at least a screenplay nod? and even if those two are to much for the academy, what about a best song nomination for bruce springsteen? the song won a golden globe and it isn't even nominated for an academy award - in a category that only has three nominees (so its not like there is no room for it)... the only thing i can think is that there is some kind of technicality reason and it can't be nominated, but if that isn't the case then what the hell!?!?

well done oscar:- heath ledger and robert downy jr. nominations - comedy and action rarely get much love from the academy so to have ledger (for The Dark Knight) and even more so, downey (for Tropic Thunder) nominated for supporting actor awards is great to see - and they are both very deserving.

best failed blockbuster:- Body Of Lies - with ridely scott directing this spy thriller starring russell crowe and leonardo dicaprio Body Of Lies had blockbuster hopes, but instead it only ended up grossing just over half of its estimated $70 million budget. not only that, but the reviews were split on it as well (it got 51% at rotten tomatoes)... but this one is more than just a good summer spy thriller.

hey oscar, were there really no other good supporting female performances?:- viola davis in Doubt - now i'm not saying davis was bad in the film, not at all... however, she is really only in the film for one 5-15 minute long scene, and her performance isn't so outstanding that it deserves a nomination for such a small role... who would i replace her with you ask? well, how about rebecca hall from Vicky Christina Barcelona?

the most unbelievably simple story:- Wendy And Lucy - a girl and her dog are driving through a small town on their way to alaska. the car breaks down and she loses her dog. she spends the next day or two looking for her dog while her car is getting fixed... there you go, that is Wendy And Lucy - and it is a really good film.

best film with lots of problems:- Gran Torino - eastwood isn't bad (not best actor worthy as the national board of review thought), but playing a racist old man that just wants to be left alone but befriends the korean kid/family next door is anything but an original idea... also, the acting by the kids in the film is poor and the story is pretty predictable... and yet i enjoyed the film.. hmmmmmm, go figure.

worst film that was not the sum of its parts:- Burn After Reading - with Burn After Reading i found the story original, i liked the characters, i thought it was funny at times, i liked the tone of the film, i was interested in what was going to happen, the performances were good - albeit a little over the top for some (but that fit the tone the coen brothers created)... and yet i was quite disappointed and confused in the end.

best film title:- Quantum Of Solace and Young People Fucking

- Quantun Of Solace sounds a little pretentious, but very cool and intriguing... Young People Fucking sounds like it is trying to shock people, but the film is so good it works.

FBNF AWARDS 2007

BEST FILM: No Country For Old Men - i have said plenty about this masterpiece already

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE: Daniel Day-Lewis - his performance in There Will Be Blood was brilliant. a towering, powerful performance for the ages.

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE: Ellen Page - on the surface it might seem like a simple thing to play a sarcastic teen, but the way she gave us this character who young but thrust (no pun intended) in to such an adult situation was really something great.

film that most frustratingly didn't live up to its potential:- I Am Legend - i think i've said and written enough about how i feel about this one

best soundtrack:- Once - great songs that work beautifully in the movie and on their own

worst movie title:- The Diving Bell And The Butterfly - i know it's the name of the book, but the title is so artsy that i'm sure it probably alienated some people from seeing this great movie (not that those it alienated would have appreciated it anyways, but you never know)

best movie title:- I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With - come on, that's a great title. and the fact that it also breaks down the truth and simplicity of what we really are all looking for in a mate (someone that we just get and gets us and someone that we would be completely happy just sitting and 'eating cheese' with) makes it even better.

best director (tie):- the coen brothers & p.t. anderson - more then just good films, No country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood are masterpieces that go beyond what we expect, take chances and buck conventions with an incredibly sure hand.

best actor who played the same character in two different movies:- michael cera - they had different names, but his character in Juno and Superbad were pretty identical. he played them really well though.

best special effects:- The Transformers - nope, i didn't like the movie, but those special effects were something spectacular and seamless.

most overlooked actor:- irfan khan - he was excellent in both The Namesake and A Mighty Heart (he got an independent spirit nomination, but he deserved much more)... followed a close second by josh brolin: javier bardem is getting all the attention (and he deserves it all), but brolin was great as well in a less 'flashy' but just as important role.

most overlooked actress:- Tabu - she is the heart and soul of The Namesake.

most overpraised film of the year:- Micheal Clayton -sure, it was pretty good, but not best-director-and-best-film good. that's just taking up places that could have gone to much better movies

biggest drop-off by a director based on his previous film:- joe carnahan -his film this year:Smoking Aces (kind of fun for a bit, but not even a good mindless shoot 'em up) - his previous film: Narc (this is a great movie)

movie that made me laugh more then it probably should have:- Reno 911: Miami! - the tv show makes me laugh and so did the movie, like the award says, probably more then it should have

- biggest oscar gyp (tie):- The Diving Bell And The Butterflynot getting a best picture nod -personally i also think Micheal Clayton should be off the list and replaced with Easter Promises, but the fact that Diving Bell got a best director nod but was replaced in the best picture category by Atonement is just ridiculous. i know every year there is one best film nomination that doesn't coennside with the best director nominations, and that is fine. however, if you are going to keep Diving Bell off the list then at least replace it with a better film then Atonement (it had a very good first half. however, it didn't provide any kind of background or justification for the huge emotions felt by the two main characters, and therefor i felt no real draw to their plight or desire for them to get back together, which is what the film relies on).

- Eastern Promises getting almost nothing

- at least viggo got an acting nod, but come on people, the film itself deserved a lot more recognition then it got. like i mentioned above, get rid of Micheal Clayton on both the 'best director' and 'best film' nomination list and you got room for cronenberg and Eastern Promises.

- There Will Be Blood score not nominated - how did this modern, different and evocative score get left of the nomination list? i think i just answered my own question.

worst sequel:- Spiderman 3 - the first two were great, but this one wasn't even that much fun. too many villains and a dark spiderman story line that wasn't developed to its full potential. (i didn't see Pirates Of The Caribbean 3 by the way)

Best Sequel:- The Bourne Ultimatum - not only was it a really good action movie on its own, but the way it worked within the context of the trilogy it was a great finale to the series. (Harry Potter 5 and 28 Weeks Later are close behind)

most surprising remake:- I Think I Love My Wife

- the chris rock film which he directed, starred in and co-wrote is a 'remake/based on' the film Chloe In The Afternoon by eric rohmer